London leading the world in fintech firms

A global survey of the top ten fintech cities has revealed that London now hosts the world's largest number of fintech companies. Overall, the city comes third in the rankings behind first-placed San Francisco and New York.

Businesswoman using iphone in London Shard

David Sapsted

2 December 2022

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But the research by embedded finance platform Fluro found London had the most fintech companies - 1,866 including 25 unicorns - with even more fintech funding available than New York.

US tops global fintech funding

San Francisco topped the table thanks to the highest amount of available funding at nearly £204 billion, as well as 4,326 investors and 46 fintech unicorns.New York claimed second place because of the number of investors (3,521) but its available funding of £122 billion trailed London's £138 billion.The top three were substantially ahead in virtually all categories of the other cities in the top ten, which comprised (in order) Singapore, Stockholm, Berlin, Los Angeles, Boston, Toronto and Paris.

Fintech filling gaps left by traditional institutions

Nick Harding, Fluro's Chief Executive, said: “The growth of the fintech market has accelerated over the past 10 years, largely due to technological breakthroughs, and it’s great to see hubs of expertise emerge across the globe for both businesses and individuals looking to work in this industry.“Fintech companies have filled the gap left by traditional institutions which struggled to keep up with changing consumer behaviour. Efficient, timely and personalised services are more important than ever in the financial services space to secure a positive customer experience.“As the industry continues to grow across the globe, now might be the time for businesses, consumers and future talent to get on board with digital finance.”

London 'one of best places' to pursue fintech careers

The survey found that there are currently 3,441 fintech job opportunities in the UK capital, with an average annual salary of £54,312, making it one of the best places in the world to pursue a fintech career.Publication of the research coincided with the announcement this week that one of London’s leading fintech companies had recruited more than 1,000 new employees over the past year.Money transfer company Wise said it was planning to hire an additional 300 staff in the coming months. The past year, the firm said, had swelled its workforce by 43 per cent to almost 4,000.Matt Briers, the company's Chief Financial officer, said: “We’ve had a really good start to the year. We’re actually hiring quite fast - more and more customers are using our accounts to receive money and to hold money.“A lot of the reason people use us is not discretionary so we expect this to continue.”The Evening Standard newspaper reported that Wise had posted a 55 per cent boost to revenue to £397 million in the six months to September, while pre-tax profits almost trebled against last year to £51.3 million and customer numbers swelled to 5.5 million in the second quarter.It is estimated that the global fintech market will be worth £310 billion by the start of next year.

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